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Sections 1345.71 to 1345.78 of the Revised Code deal with the aspects of lemon laws in the state of Ohio. This statute gives protection to the buyers of vehicles in the State whose vehicles do not live up to the express warranty given by the manufacturer at the time of purchase of the vehicle.

Duties of the manufacturer to repair the vehicle

To avail this protection, the buyer is expected to report the defect in the vehicle within a period of one (1) year from the date of purchase, or before eighteen thousand miles of the vehicle's operation, whichever is earlier.

In the event that the manufacturer is unable to rectify the defect after sincere efforts, then at the option of the buyer, he shall replace the defective vehicle with a new one which is acceptable to the buyer. If on the other hand, if the buyer elects for a refund, then the manufacturer has to refund the entire amount paid to the buyer along with all other related charges incurred by the buyer.

If in the event that the vehicle is on a loan and the buyer elect a refund, then the manufacturer has to make payments jointly to the buyer and the financer. The financer shall deduct his charges and remit the balance to the buyer.

It will be considered to be a serious effort to repair the vehicle on the manufacturer's and /or his dealer's part if it can be established that the defect was attempted to be rectified at least eight (8) times or that the vehicle remained unoperational for at least thirty (30) days.

Consumer's right to be informed and legal remedies

The manufacturer has to provide at the time of purchase of the vehicle a written statement in bold format to the consumer outlining his rights to the remedies under this law in case of defect in the vehicle.

Further, every time the vehicle is serviced or a repair is attempted, the dealer or manufacturer has to provide the customer with a summary of the work carried out on the vehicle.

If the manufacturer fails in his obligation then the buyer can bring in a civil suit against him within five years.

This will however not be possible if the vehicle is put to use in an extraordinary manner by the buyer. In such case the manufacturer is released from his obligations.

Buyback of vehicle and its resale

The manufacturer shall not resale the same vehicle unless he provides the new buyer with the same warranty that he provided the original buyer. Further, the manufacturer must clearly tell the new buyer the history of the vehicle and the reasons for buyback. He must list each defect encountered in the vehicle.

Dispute resolution

The statute has given powers to the Attorney General to formulate a scheme of warranty disputes resolution.

Once the consumer is made aware of such mechanism, then he shall not approach the court of law unless he has exhausted this mechanism first.

The US federal law governing lemons is officially called The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, however, most American states each have their own lemon law.


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